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01-05-2016 | Commentary

Pharmaceutical Price Schemes in Europe: Time for a ‘Continental’ One?

Authors: Livio Garattini, Alessandro Curto, Nick Freemantle

Published in: PharmacoEconomics | Issue 5/2016

Excerpt

Although a basic concept of economic theory is that the price of a good depends on demand for it, the health sector is an exception and pharmaceutical pricing is a clear example of ‘market failure’, with drugs considered special ‘merit goods’ rather than common ‘consumer goods’ [1]. From the demand side, patients are not normal consumers; instead, medical doctors decide therapies on their behalf (the so called ‘principal-agent relationship’) and pharmaceutical expenses are mostly funded by ‘third-party payers’ throughout the world [2]. …

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Title: Pharmaceutical Price Schemes in Europe: Time for a ‘Continental’ One?
Authors: Livio Garattini
Alessandro Curto
Nick Freemantle
Publication date: 01-05-2016
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Published in: PharmacoEconomics / Issue 5/2016
Print ISSN: 1170-7690
Electronic ISSN: 1179-2027
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40273-015-0377-5

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Pharmaceutical Price Schemes in Europe: Time for a ‘Continental’ One?

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